Relentless (Option Zero 2)

“Oh, Kat…” Now she just sounded sad.

“Mom, you know I had to try.”

“Sweetie, he’s dead.”

“You don’t know that. It was never confirmed.”

She tried to be relieved that at least her mother was acknowledging that Lion actually existed. She and other well-meaning people had tried to tell her that Lion had been a figment of her imagination. A hallucination brought on by fear and pain. A mystery man her mind had created to keep hope alive. She knew that wasn’t the truth. He was real and he was alive. She knew it!

Her mother gave that sad, pitying sigh that she’d adopted ever since her daughter had returned home. “Come home, darling, where we can take care of you.”

“Mom…” She tried, she really tried, to keep the irritation from her voice. “I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, as you proved so well.”

Though it hurt, she couldn’t argue with the statement. She had gone alone to Paris, filled with youthful arrogance, massive naïveté, and the complete certainty that nothing bad could happen to her. She had returned home a gravely injured, damaged, and fearful woman.

The blood loss had been horrific, but it had been the pneumonia that had almost taken her life. Every breath had been a struggle. The doctors had worked tirelessly to save her.

She was finally getting herself back together. She had been determined to get well so she could make this meeting.

An abrupt wave of desolation swept through her, and sadness dropped like a boulder onto her shoulders. Her mother was right. He wasn’t coming. Lion was dead. The most wonderful, giving man she’d ever known was no longer alive.

A gust of warm air swept over her, bringing with it the scent of roses. Her head popped up, her eyes searched. She saw no one with pink roses. Spotted no one who looked remotely like Lion. It didn’t matter. Something like optimism washed through her. She refused to accept her mother’s grim assessment. There was no visual proof he was dead. There was still hope.

“Kat.” Her mom’s voice softened. “Come home, darling.”

“I can’t, Mom, I’m sorry. I learned a hard lesson, but I got through it. I’m a grown woman and don’t need to be babied or taken care of.”

“But—”

“You and Dad need to go on that cruise you planned, before all this happened.”

“Don’t be silly. We’re not leaving until you’re completely on your feet.”

That was just more incentive for her to get a hundred percent well. She’d always been an independent person, but since her return she’d become a weak-kneed, jump-at-any-loud-noise, blubbering wimp. That was over. From now on, her family would see the Katarina they’d seen before.

Knowing she wouldn’t convince her mother without full proof that she was fully recovered, she did the only thing she could do—she lied. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got a phone consultation with Dr. Jenkins at six.”

“Good. I know she’ll help you confront your denial about that young man.”

Refusing to get back into an argument she wouldn’t win, she hurriedly said, “I love you, Mom. Bye.”

As she pocketed her cell, a new wave of desolation rushed through her like a raging river. It was four hours and seventeen minutes past their meeting time. Even if he had been delayed in traffic, had a flat tire, or a flight delay, he would have been here by now.

She returned the sliced apples to her picnic basket. Standing, she gave one more searching glance around without an ounce of hope. He wasn’t coming. Wherever he was…whatever had kept him away must have been important. But what she absolutely, positively refused to accept was that he was dead. Someway, somehow she would find him. And when she did, she would thank him for saving her life.

She didn’t care how long she had to wait for him, she would never give up on Lion. And in her heart she knew that Lion would never give up on her.

Chapter Six

Eight Years Later

Prizren, Kosovo

Bullets whipped by, pinging into the metal door beside him. Liam waited half a second, peered around the door edge and fired three shots toward the guy hiding behind a stack of wood. At this rate, they’d both soon run out of bullets and would have to go hand-to-hand. That’d be just fine with him. He had enough adrenaline built up inside him to take on three of these creeps without breaking a sweat.

There had to be a better way to earn a living, but ever since he’d rescued his first baby rabbit from the jaws of Toby, their old house cat, he’d been obsessed with protecting the innocent.